Books / Poetry in English / Bittersweet
Pencraft Award for Literary Excellence 2023 ·
Award winner
Literary Titan Gold Award · Poetry
Bittersweet
Poems on Love, Loss & Wanderlust
Bittersweet is a beautiful and inspiring award-winning poetry collection for those who seek lessons from love, loss, and heartbreak, and the wanderlust we feel as we journey through life.
Now on Paperback & eBook at your favorite retailer.
“I found the writing reflective and sensitive, with references to a life lived fiercely, with intensity, and passion. It's also about enduring pain and learning to heal and grow. This collection is emotionally resonant and impactful.”
—Literary Titan (2023)
“One of the finest collections of poetry that I have ever had the pleasure to read … The themes and characteristics of some of the poems were reminiscent of some of the finest love stories of our time, and you can feel that the poet has drawn on a lifetime of inspiration to create such a spectacular collection of poetry.”
—From an Amazon Book Review ★★★★★
“An exquisite journey through the complexities of human experiences. Camacho delves fearlessly into the emotional landscape of love, loss, and longing. A highly recommended read for both seasoned poetry lovers and newcomers to the genre.”
—From a GoodReads Book Review ★★★★★
WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT
Three threads, one feeling
"Life can be bittersweet at times, but it is the changes of the seasons that make it all beautiful." The title isn't decoration: almost every poem here holds two things at once.
LOVE
The having
Cabin nights, dancing to the sound of rain, freckles mapped like constellations. Love as the thing that mends you, and the one you never stop writing down.
LOSS
The leaving
The lover who vanished as quickly as she came, the train heading the wrong way, and the harder choice: to forgive them and then to forgive yourself.
WANDERUST
The road
Oceans, cliffs, city lights, and valleys. The restless soul that keeps moving, and the discovery that "alone" and "lonely" have never been the same.
ABOUT THE BOOK
May the wander never lose its lust.
For those who dream awake, and for those who love without measure.
Bittersweet opens with a blessing for the restless: may we wear our scars as badges of honor, and never grow tired, because there is so much left to see. What follows is a collection written between departures. The sea that keeps every secret, a love that burned too bright to last, the long road back to standing on your own.
It closes with "The last memory," a long letter to a love found again, and an author's note on choosing happiness. By the last page, the hurt hasn't disappeared, but it has turned into something you can carry.
What's inside
Poems and prose poems across more than 120 pages
Most are under a page, made to read in one sitting or one a night
Opens with a prose blessing and closes with a love letter and an author's note
READ A SAMPLE
Three poems from the book
Some hearts heal by staying still. Others heal on the open road.
ON LOVE · NO OTHER WAY
I found home
in the sway of our bodies
as we slowly danced.
I found a beautiful certainty
in the realization that, to me,
wanting you and needing you
are one and the same.
You are and always have been
everything to me.
I'll never see it any other way.
ON LOSS · THE TRAIN
I sat on the train
wishing it would turn around,
hoping with all that was left in me
that those railroad tracks
could be like roads,
that I could just as easily
stop and redirect,
that I could just as easily
be taken back to the start.
I sat on the train,
realizing only
when the doors finally closed
that I was heading
in the wrong direction.
ON WANDERLUST · ROOTS WITHIN
Drawn to wild things,
uncaged and free.
I have learned in all of these,
the wind, the ocean,
the roaming beasts,
that I am more like them,
so much more than I appear to be.
A gypsy of sorts,
a home rooted beneath the skin.
I am drawn to where
the waves will take me,
always peacefully
but always to the unknown,
and maybe that is why
few have stayed with me
on this road.
PUBLISHED
2022
PAGES
136
FORMATS
Paperback · Digital
LANGUAGE
English
ISBN
979-8451579138
The author
Pablo Camacho
Bittersweet is a collection of poems and short writings written during the final years of Pablo’s military enlistment. As he deployed, traveled the world, and built relationships with people, the moments that burned most vividly into his memory were the ones he wrote about most.
Many of the book's poems came from the deep emotions he felt during heartbreak, loss, and loneliness as he spent a typical Marine's life stationed away from loved ones. However, he also wrote many poems from moments of absolute joy and wonder, such as when he visited Japan and Singapore or drove coast to coast with his best friend in the United States.
Read next
If Bittersweet stayed with you
Paraíso
Salvation
The Spanish-language companion. New for 2026.
Where the loss in Bittersweet finally turns. Award winner, 2024.
Red Magic
Free with the newsletter. Poetry in the form of love letters, 2020.
Already read Bittersweet?
An honest review is the single most useful thing a reader can do for an independent author. It takes two minutes, and it is how the next reader finds the book.
